It's Cold (And hard to hide a teenager form a group of superheros)
by Gheloured
Summary: Tony was planning on having Peter meet the Avengers much later, like when he wasn't in high school, but life never seems to go his way. Now he's stuck with a spider kid that couldn't thermoregulate, a team of newly pardoned superheroes, and the difficulties that come with having a little shit for a so- I mean, intern.
1. welcome i guess

Tony Stark, playboy billionaire, inventor, genius, and so many other things, was definitely not a medical expert. Sitting next to the bed of an unruly spider-teen wasn't how he had planned his day as he began to wait out what mean-and-green said would be two whole weeks before Peter would be fully awake and operational again. Finding the kid's body on top of a skyscraper, so cold and still, hadn't been very good for his heart, and he supposed it wasn't very good now considering the jolts of fear it sent through his body every time Peter took longer to take a breath than normal. Stupid. Peter hadn't told him that the heater in the suit was broken, nor that he couldn't keep himself warm in the cold, nor that he could go into fucking hibernation when he got cold enough.

And Shit, the exvengers were coming back that afternoon.

Shiiiiiiiii-

Steve Rogers felt a mixture of feelings, none of them happy, as he rode the elevator to the common room. Being pardoned officially didn't mean that anyone else had forgiven him, much less Tony Stark. The guy wasn't exactly friendly when they had discussed their moving back to the tower, but they had decided it was best. They were finishing up the meeting with a glare from Stark when he got a notification from someone and his face drained of color. What in gosh's name could make him so... Worried? Steve had seen many types of scared, of fear and revulsion, and he could swear he recognized the type of fear only present on the face of a worried parent.

Tony Stark was Not a father. He was irresponsible and held no remorse for others, he was self-centered and bullheaded. Steve shook the thoughts free of his head. Bucky spared him a worried glance at the elevator dinged open, and they stepped out into a surprisingly normal looking living room. The fabric of the couches was a deep brown, and there was a hammock strung across one corner of the ceiling somehow, the shape of a book resting heavily on the bottom of the fabric. How was anybody supposed to reach that?

In the middle of one of the couches sat their gracious host, looking at each of them in turn a dangerous glint in his eyes briefly gave away how pi- angry he was at Steve when it came to his turn to be assessed.

"Ah, Capsicle, and co. Enjoy your little vacation?" The smile on his face was very realistic except for the coldness in his eyes. His legs were crossed, as well as his arms, a smile playing across his lips like he enjoyed this.

"We're glad to be back, Tony."

"That's Stark to you, Captain." The fake pleasantness dropped for a moment but he picked it back up quickly "I'm here to tell you guys the rules. You each get a floor like before, but you aren't allowed on floor 81, or on my floor, 82. My lab is also restricted. This floor is the common floor so you can all use it. Expect Thor to come by sometime, and In two days the king of Wakanda and princess Shuri are arriving so try not to fuck it up even more."

"Thanks for letting us stay, Stark, we appreciate it." Steve looked to his left foot like it was the most interesting thing in the world, which it wasn't, but it was better to look at the worn boots than to aggravate their host even more.

A voice chimed in from the ceiling, " is requesting to see you, sir."

"Thanks, Fri. Well, I have some stuff to do so get yourselves settled." Tony stood up and stalked away down a side hallway. Steve and the rest of the team walked past, and he dared to glance over, spotting Tony speaking hurriedly to Bruce. He realized he was staring when Bucky nudged him.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm wondering why Bruce Banner is here," Steve said, shaking his head slightly. They each made their ways to separate floors, Bucky and Steve sharing one for obvious reasons, and they set to work unpacking.

Why was floor 81 off limits?

Bruce went over the medical charts once again for Tony. He sighed at his worried face, stating yet another time that Peter would be okay. Hibernation was temporary, and while spiders didn't go through it they went in a state very much like it when they got too cold. The boy would wake up in two weeks, they had to bring him out of hibernation slowly so his body could get used to the adjusted temperatures.

They stood over him now, a bracelet sent by Wakanda as a token of their goodwill taking his vitals was on his wrist, and he lay curled slightly on the middle of gently heated blankets and comforters while they warmed him up. It had been nearly a week since they had brought him in, and it had taken them two days to create a treatment plan for him. The first days had been slow but now his real recovery could begin. He had been so cold, and his heartbeat was so slow even now. The shallow breaths he took were far apart, but still better than when Tony had brought him in, frantic with fear.

Peter looked so peaceful despite the fact that he hadn't been awake for five days now. Tony ran a hand through his soft curls and the teen curled tighter into the blankets. Suddenly awkward, Bruce left the room, and then the floor. As soon as he reached the common room he was met with questions from the Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"Why aren't we allowed onto floor 81?"

"Why are you here?"

"Is something wrong with Stark? "

"Hold on, hold on." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "One at a time."

"Is something wrong with Stark? Is that why you're here?" Asked Natasha, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

"Okay, first of all, I live here, second of all, Stark is better than before since he got rid of that awful addiction, and you aren't allowed on 81 because Tony doesn't want you there."

"That's not a good answer for why we can't go there. I'm assuming FRIDAY knows?" Questioned the Black Widow, raising her eyebrows at the ceiling

"Yes," The AI chimed in. "According to boss 'don't let them onto that floor or I swear to God I'll snap their necks.' It would be unwise to do so for your personal safety. "

Clint whistled, taken aback, "Damn, I guess we shouldn't go. "

"Oh no, I know that voice. Don't do it, really Clint this isn't negotiable."

"Oh, fine." Clint rolled his eyes. "We'll find out eventually."

Bruce shook his head in exasperation, Clint and Natasha seemed keen on taking any chance possible on pissing Tony off. "It's almost lunch, we'd better head to the kitchen. Tony isn't eating with us, naturally."

"Of course he isn't. I'm assuming this also has something to do with floor 81?" Clint scoffed.

"Yes, actually. Also, consider the fact that Tony hasn't forgiven you." He retorted.

"Been picking up tips from the great Tony Snark himself I see."

"Heh. I suppose living with him does that." Bruce looked briefly at both of them. "Don't be too hard on him, he's going through a lot, he has been for a while now, but you should understand it's not him being angry as much as he is hurt."

"Ok. We'll try. When will we be allowed to see who lives on floor 81?" Natasha cocked her head a bit, arms crossed as they paced down the hallway that seemed too long now.

"Just... I don't know. Tony always takes a while to move past something. You know how he is."

"Sure. What's for lunch?" Clint picked up the conversation as they reached the kitchen.

"Macaroni," Came the reply, as the rest of the Avengers were called down to eat.

Lunch was quiet. The exvengers sat on one side, the ones that stayed on the other. Somehow they managed to be civil, even if tension was thick in the air. Clint sat there silently, eating his macaroni in whatever relative peace was at the table. He would've preferred the countertop, but he couldn't complain and besides, this wasn't home yet.

After all, Stark had just invited them back, and Stark Law said that it would be a while before he would feel comfortable enough to eat with them. For all that people said he was an arrogant playboy, Stark was slow to trust and intelligent enough to know when to. It felt strange to be a stranger in a place that just a year before would have been his home, but he supposed that was his own fault, what with the accords and fleeing in an admittedly stupid decision. He could've just signed and stayed within the law.

He certainly could've had more of this macaroni, and even if that was a stupid thing to say, regret crept up into his throat and he couldn't eat anymore. Natasha raised an eyebrow as he pushed the plate away, so he arranged his expression into something slightly more pleasant. He doubted it would fool her, but he did it anyway, and got up to scrape his leftovers into the sink.

"Hey, I'm not hungry, so I'm going to check out my room." He said with a slight smile.

"Wait, this is a team lunch you can't just-"

But Bruce shook his head at Rogers, and Clint nodded in acknowledgement. He couldn't deal with Rogers' self-inflating ego quite this early in the well, ever. Privately, in the room of his own mind, he reasoned that if he was going to his room, he might as well go in style.

It turned out that all the vents were suspiciously Clint-sized, and the one that fit in them crawled through with practiced ease. The quiet sound of cloth shifting across metal was the only noise beside his own breath, but if he stopped moving he could hear the bubbling sounds of muffled pipes and the buzz of machinery. The tower was never quiet, full of people and the things they loved. In all the time he had known about Stark Industries, he had never heard someone unhappy to be working there. If Clint recalled correctly, he was far above the employee and lab directors' dorms, which were floors below. He should be safe.

Through the vents, he had access to all floors, and by extension, the forbidden one. The sudden urge to go find out what was on that floor washed over him, much like the poison Natasha was bound to put in his food if she ever found out what he was about to do.

He did it anyway.

The vents were cold, which he was thankful for because the alternative was blistering heat, and so he made rapid progress. Twists and turns made the labyrinth tighter at some points, but Clint was surprisingly flexible ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). A strange whirring noise sounded behind him, something not quite in place, more like the cliche buzzing of a hero tied down moving slowly towards a saw.

Well, it turns out that's exactly what was, so Clint made the only rational decision and exploded out of the nearest venthole (what the fuck are these called) only to land on a soft, carpeted surface. Not that scratchy basement carpet that the dog had peed on countless times, but the type of carpet that had no end to its deepness. Seriously, where were his fingers.

Aside from the carpet and the saws now whirring behind him in the vents (what the fuck Stark?), there was a door, slightly ajar, and what appeared to be a bed could be seen through the crack. Suddenly a whirring sound was heard from behind, and Clint, making a decision he didn't regret whatsoever, launched himself out of the vent and into the room. He watched as a very sharp looking saw shot its way through the air where he'd just been.

He looked around at the room he was now in. Dark blue walls and a loft close to the ceiling, the shelves on the wall went way too high and were completely covered in stuff that Clint would never be able to understand. Piles of beanbags, bright red, were in the center of the room around a low table also covered in the stuff. He looked to the loft.

Using the curtains to make his way up there, he stooped at what he saw. A teenager, all sandy brown curls and tiny snoring, lay curled in a plethora of down comforters and blankets.

What the fuck.

He held back the urge to pet the kid's hair, so soft looking, and looked for the nearest escape route. It was rather easy, as the windows came open with the touch of a rather inconspicuously placed button, and so he went out, one foot on the windowsill, and dropped carefully down to the nearest one below.

That window was open to let the breeze in and he clambered in. Mission complete.

So that's what Tony was hiding. A hand landed on his shoulder. Speak of the devil, the man himself, and he was Pissed.

"Hi, hey, what's up, buddy? Have fun on your excursion? " The tone of voice was friendly, the million-megawatt smile for the press in place and shouting danger. Clint would've shuddered if not for the training he'd had as a spy. "Cause that might be a problem if anyone else finds out, ey, buddy old pal?"

"Don't worry about it, it was nothing." Clint wanted to sigh. He probably wouldn't get another chance to see the kid again, since Stark knew about his adventuring.

"Damn fucking right it was nothing because there's nothing that can stop me from ruining you if anyone else happens to find out, I guarantee it!" Tony removed his hand and placed it behind his back, straightening up and grinning like the world was made of coffee.

Clint nodded wordlessly and Tony disappeared behind the nearest doorway. He sighed and walked back to his floor, assuming the vents were still not safe. Tony really did make his floor perfect for him, and he assumed all of the Avengers' floors were the same.

And if Tony wanted that secret kept, then he'd rather do that than make him any angrier.


	2. im bout to end this man's whole career

Tony Stark liked to think of himself as a rather patient man. It was at this moment that he was wrong. It hadn't even been a day and already someone knew about Peter, and god, it had to be Barton didn't it? As soon as he got the alert from FRIDAY, he was on the floor where Barton was calculated to escape. If Barton knew, you could be sure that everyone else would by the end of the week. For a super spy, he wasn't exactly subtle, the trick was knowing who he would tell first.

Well, let's calm down about this for a second. If the threats worked, and oh he did intend to carry them out, then there would be no problem. The problem was in how clever Barton thought he was versus how clever he actually happened to be, and Tony was smarter than both versions of Barton combined. Maybe even marginally so (who was he kidding, he was 182.42% smarter than Barton^2 + Barton.)

His seething was caught by Bruce, who despite being a genius did have surprisingly good intrapersonal skills. Bruce, as always, was spot on. "Who found out?"

"Barton," Tony all but growled. He resisted the urge to begin pacing up and down the hall. He would find himself giving off an impression he didn't want, one of an antsy caged lion instead of the rightful predator he should be. Everything was about impressions, and Tony would rather keep his in place.

Bruce sighed, shaking his head. "Through the vents I suppose? We'd better get to work on fortifying them. We can't have another incident."

"Yep, I'll get on that right away. I need something to do anyway. Find anything else out?"

"Yeah, actually, that's why I went to find you. I've done some more research into the hibernation patterns of animals, and how they wake up. We need to slowly increase the temperature like we've been doing, even higher than room temperature by the end of the process, but he should wake to make small trips out to do stuff, get food and such."

Tony looked up at that. He could talk to the kid sooner than later. "We need to restrict his access to the floor he's been staying on, and although I regret to move him, keeping him up on his Shelf might be dangerous."

Tony nodded slowly, turning abruptly to the direction of the lab and gesturing for Bruce to follow. They should make the changes right away. They fell into a familiar rhythm of work, the sounds of Tony's Tunes (as they were dubbed by Bruce) combined with the monotonous tapping of code (really, he could write this in his sleep) lured him into some form of dreaming.

"Sir? Karen is coming through with a distress call."

Tony had been sitting in his workshop, working on more security measures to get rid of SHIELD's crappy ones, when the alert came in. He froze, his fingers pausing just shy of the keys.

"What?"

"It appears has fallen unconscious on the roof of a building five miles west from your current location. Immediate attention is needed."

"Shit, what happened?" Tony stood up abruptly, pushing the keyboard away from the edge and closing down that part of the lab. He walked quickly through the halls, suiting up as he went.

" 's temperature is approximately 94 degrees, his heart rate has slowed down. His breathing is also concerning, all below the level of the average sleeping adult."

"Directions?" His voice reverberated metallically through the face of the armor. Instantly a map pulled up over the screen, and Peter's location showed up. FRIDAY kept updating Tony on Peter's vitals as he flew through the surprisingly bright city, for whatever hour it was at night. He sped up when he caught sight of the kid, heart thumping painfully in his chest. _No. No. No. No._

Still, curled up slightly on the ground in a position that made it look like he had collapsed slowly. How long had KAREN spent begging Peter to tell someone, anyone. Tony prayed that he hadn't been too late. As soon as he landed, the suit opened up around him, and he rushed over to kneel beside Peter.

Pulling the mask off, Tony saw something he never wanted to see again. It looked like the kid was dead, blue lips and barely a breath escaping from between them. He cradled his head in his arms, resisting his thumb's sudden need to draw themselves across his cheek. They needed to get back to the tower. They flew back, Tony carrying Peter bridal style, someone pointing up at the suit shouting 'Iron Man, Iron Man' and he called Aunt May.

"Tony? Is everything alright?" She answered in that motherly tone that used to be reserved for Peter but somehow extended to him.

"Yeah, no, nope. Peter is freezing cold and unconscious. Is that normal for spiders? I don't know, is he dead? Is he going to-"

"Calm down Tony. This has happened before. He's gone into a sort of hibernation."

"Oh. Ok. Ok."

"I'll come over to the tower as soon as I get home from this trip, but I can't leave early. I'm sorry, but it might be a few days until then. Now, this is what you'll do..."

Tony scrubbed his eyes, leaning back in the chair and sighing. They had done everything May had needed them to do, and she was going to get there late tomorrow.

He rang her up as he made his way to the glorious savior that is coffee because FRIDAY had moved the pot to the communal kitchen on an effort to get him to socialize. "Hey, May, how's it going? I just want to warn you, the Avengers are going to be at the tower when you visit. Yes, Peter's fine. He's doing better actually..."

The conversation continued down through the hallway and into the kitchen, ranging from first Peter's health to Tony's, and although he'd say that he was better May was informing him that the average adult slept for 7-9 hours and not 45 minutes every two days. Listen, it wasn't his fault his mind worked at 92.53 miles per hour.

What perhaps, may have been his fault was when he walked into a room with a countertop full of two (2) super spies. They looked to be finishing off the leftovers (he wondered how that was possible with two super soldiers and some other, rather athletic people,) but stopped to stare at him. Seriously, he thought he was bad at social interaction. Sure he could play a crowd like whatever 16 instruments he happened to have in his closet, but personal interaction? Who's she?

He was broken out of his reverie by Clint, who was trying to quietly put down his fork. The clack of metal on ceramic seemed to spur them into action, or in this case into speaking.

"Yes, Stark?" Natasha asked, somehow making it sound polite.

"Ahem. yes, May, sorry but I have to go." He hung up and turned to the pair of super spies. "Wandered into the wrong room. It happens." His tone of voice dared her to question him, harsh with more strain and worry than he would've liked to endorse. His mission (get away from these people I don't want to talk to because I'm bad at emotions) was a success.

"What was with him?" Clint asked Natasha, his partner in crime and sometimes stealing cookies with help from FRIDAY.

"I don't know. He hasn't slept for a while, that's for sure. You can see the concealer around his eyes and the way he moves, he's exhausted."

Clint frowned at that, and put down his fork once again, although this time less awkward. "Who's May?"

"I don't think we should pry."

Clint paused, waiting for an explanation, but sighed when it wasn't forthcoming. "Yeah. For all that Stark seems to have done, he always tries to do good, doesn't he? I mean, he's trying to make this right, and…" he trailed off.

"And what?"

"I don't think we are." Natasha stayed silent. "I mean, we're sitting here in his home, eating his food, and he's working his ass off to get the council to put more flexibility in the accords. We should make an effort."

She hummed, a neutral noise, one that had Clint ready to try and convince her more, but she began to speak. "I'll try."

Bruce grimaced and shook his head. Even with everything that had happened, and the fact that some people had clearly broken the law, Tony seemed to think it was all his fault. The man could be stubborn in his beliefs, even if they weren't true, but not as stubborn as Rogers. For God's sake, the man went rogue without any warning and didn't even consider the fact that some people would've tried to help. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, as Rogers happened to be in the kitchen with... was that a salami sandwich?

Bruce took a few preparatory breaths, shaking his head minutely to get rid of his apprehensions. It didn't work, but who was he to complain? Rogers looked up at the sound of Bruce's footsteps and stood to confront him. Couldn't he do anything in peace?

"Yes, Rogers?" Bruce said before he could start. The man had his mouth open like a rather sad fish.

"Why are you all so unfriendly? First Tony, then you? I don't understand why you won't be nice." Rogers crossed his arms, standing tall as if to intimidate Bruce into an answer.

"Woah, okay, first of all, back down buddy. Why don't you take a seat and finish your sandwich? I'm just here to make some tea and go." Bruce sighed. For all that Steve acted like the polite boy-next-door type, he certainly felt entitled. "And this is the first time you've seen me in months and this is the first thing you say to me? Forgive me if I consider that to be off-putting."

Rogers frowned as if he realized just now how what he did could be considered to be rude. Really, the man was an idiot. "Oh, I apologize Bruce."

"Call me . The reason we're being 'unfriendly ' as you put it, is because most of the people that actually care about Tony haven't forgiven you yet. For what happened in Siberia and all the times before, yes even on the helicarrier. You've been a real pain in the ass to Tony ever since you've met him, and I'm not sure why. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"What? What do you mean? Of course Tony has done stuff wrong, that most of what he does!" Now Steve was angry. Bruce sighed again. What a temper on the man. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before.

"If most of Tony's decisions end up being mistakes, then I think letting you back into the tower was his greatest one yet."

Rogers' mouth snapped shut, cutting off his retorts. He sat down sharply, putting his hands on his lap in an act of closing himself off to Bruce. The kettle began to whistle, and Bruce poured out the boiling water into his mug. The scent of the tea warmed the air until Bruce left to his room. It was almost time for bed.


	3. lmao who did this

May Parker was a woman who had gone through much in her life. Her siblings-in-law dead in a plane crash, a few years later her husband shot in front of her nephew, who she discovered had gained superpowers and had been going out every night in dangerous situations for the past 2-3 years. She didn't let any of that bring her down, had given Tony Stark a good talking to, and never let Peter get in situations too dangerous. After all, he was just a boy, no matter his (or the readers) protests, people seemed to forget the fact that he hasn't even graduated high school.

Her darling, idiotic, sweet boy, she loved him as a son, had stayed out in the cold too long and had gone into hibernation. Now that she thought about it, he had always been more reluctant to go out in the cold than before the spider fiasco began. May shook her head. Reminiscing didn't matter when she had places to be, mainly Stark Tower.

As the car slowed to a stop and Happy opened the door for her, she caught a glimpse of Tony waiting on the front porch, if you could call it that, patiently. He smiled a small genuine smile and walked up to escort her inside. The elevator was his personal one when he wanted to evade the press, and she was grateful for the opportunity to go unnoticed. She didn't want Peter to stress about her in case any of the employees connected the dots.

The doors dinged open to a beautiful, quiet sitting room. The couches faced each other over a coffee table (doubling as a footrest on the lower tier), the table part had a lot of tea, freshly prepared with the oolong that May had mentioned she enjoyed in passing. It astounded her how thoughtful the man was, even if people didn't see it. Tony waited until she had taken her seat before sitting perpendicular near her.

"Thank you for having me, Tony." May blew on her cup, careful with the no doubt expensive mug.

"It's always nice to see you May. " She looked at him, studying Tony for any signs of what she knew to be his version of self-destructive behavior. Sure enough, there was the unmistakable texture of concealer underneath his eyes.

"Tony..." She said warningly. "Do I need to bring Pepper in?"

He spluttered, thankfully without the mug in his hands, and waved his objections in a gesture seen in cartoons. "No! I mean, no, I'm fine."

"Good. You need to get sleep dear. You can't go passing out on me, although FRIDAY and Vision are rather nice company. " May smiled delicately, meaning to be reassuring.

"What about Peter, he's been keeping you up, hasn't he?"

"Yes, " Tony replied quickly. Too quickly. She noted his nervous glances, his twitching hands. He was obviously anxious about something to her than the spider baby in his bedroom.

"It's the Avengers, isn't it? that bastard Fury is keeping them in your home without your consent." May scowled, Tony shook his head.

"That would be illegal, but it looks better for them if I do. " Tony sighed, taking a sip of his tea.

"Since when did you care about their opinions? This isn't like you. And don't tell me you feel guilty about the accords, because they weren't your fault, and if Rogers "-she spit out the name like a curse-" Can't see that, he's every bit of an idiot as a doctor in the plague. "

"Well, to be frank, I haven't exactly welcomed him into our home, and right now I simply doing have the strength to care." Tony pinched the bridge of his nose at the thought of the self-righteous superhero.

"Then why is he here? We know your reputation is secure, so your previous excuses don't matter." The man in question opened his mouth to argue, but she continued. "No offense Tony, but a man of your intellect should be able to see right through that bullshit."

"I dunno, I guess I'm not that perceptive, " he tried to joke but sighed at her unwavering stare. A beat or two passed until his explanation. "This is a test."

"What does it prove?" May raised an eyebrow.

"That they are stable and have enough self-control to not go rogue again." Tony stole a glance at his tea and then the sugar pot. "They don't know about it, and they aren't allowed in this floor at all. The doors in this room are soundproof and can withstand a nuclear missle blast, so they aren't going to find out any time soon."

"So we're doing a sort of mental evaluation."

"Yep," he said, popping the P in a mixture of relief and annoyance, the latter clearly directed towards the situation of the tower.

She smiled a devilishly roguish smile, some type of resolve only Aunt May could have in her eyes. "How do I get in on it."

When Clint Barton came down to the kitchen the next morning, he did not expect someone to be there already. It was a woman, not particularly superhero-ish looking, but when she opened her eyes (she had them closed, presumably basking in the scent of her tea), they burned colder than the frozen sun.

He greeted the woman with a nod and went about his breakfast, gathering small bits of crackers and cereal, opting to decide on one when the holes bored into his back were becoming unbearably deep. The other Avengers filtered in one by one, becoming increasingly nervous at the sight of the woman (with the exception of Natasha), whomever she was, at their table.

When Steve finally came down the stairs, everyone came to a halt as the woman stood up. A small smile graced her face as she led him to sit down with the rest of the team-she had somehow gotten them to all sit at a table-which he returned sleepily.

Clint noticed Bruce sitting with them, which was rare, and he was smiling into his mug of tea. He met his gaze with Natasha, who minutely shook her head.

"Ma'am, pardon my asking," Steve started, "but who are you?"

"My name is May, but you will call me ." The smile on her face became more dangerous, sharper. Steve looked unabashed by this and smiled back.

" , I'm Steven Grant Rogers, also known as Captain America. Please, call me Steve." Clint once again glanced at the woman, , and found himself to be liking her more and more though he couldn't explain why.

"Well, Steve, I have a few small things to discuss with you and the lovely newly returned avengers." Steve swallowed back something like fear. "First of all, the fact that you live in this tower is sickening after what you've done to Tony. He's been so generous as to look past his pain and anger to let you in and all you've done is try to figure out his secrets and personal life like he doesn't deserve privacy. "

"Ma'am-"

"Don't you dare interrupt me young man, and that's another thing, don't try and blame anything on others because most of this mess is your fault. Your arrogance, your selfishness, do you even realize what Tony has done for you? He took months out of his year to get the accords to a manageable level, so you could manage it, and all you needed was to sign them."

"The accords were restricting our freedom, they-"

"They restrict your freedom just like the laws constrict your freedom. They're going to be negotiated regardless of when you sign them, so why not simply do it? But what did you do instead? You decide to run away because you don't trust Tony to take care of you and the team like he's always done."

"That's not true, I trust Tony."

At this May actually snorted. "Well not very much, clearly, considering instead of letting him get rid of HYDRA's triggers in Bucky you left him to die in one of their bunkers in Siberia."

Clint looked up, shocked. When did that happen? Was that why Steve was so concerned about injuries? But May was continuing.

"And that was after you showed him the video of his parent's assassination. And what did you tell him?" She paused. Steve was growing red, with anger or embarrassment, Clint couldn't tell. "You told him 'it wasn't Bucky.' This isn't even half of how much you've hurt the team, including Tony, and I'm not even going to start on how you first met him."

May shook her head and stood up. "Perhaps if you thought of yourself as one of the members and not the leader, you would all get along better instead of brushing everyone else off. That's all I had to say. Have a pleasant day."

Clint looked at Natasha, who was smiling a bit. Bruce was silently laughing, Wanda was measuring the worth of the man in front of her, and Bucky was staring at his boyfriend with a curious expression. Clint had never thought that Captain America would be taken down quite like this, but he had to say that he enjoyed it.

FRIDAY had given May the directions to Peter's room after she left the Avengers to their breakfast. She followed these now to find her boy sleeping on an absurdly high loft (really Tony?) Nonetheless, she climbed the ladder put there for normal person use and now sat, staring down at her nephew.

She could see how Tony must have been so scared when he first found him. Peter was breathing so slowly, his body unmoving and from what she saw on the heart monitor, his circulation was low.

May shook her head. When she had first found out about Spiderman, she had lectured Peter for an hour and then went on his phone to lecture Tony for an hour. Despite his supposedly arrogant nature, Tony proved himself to be sweet and kind, going to far as to offer her a home in his tower. She had refused at first but seeing how happy Peter was with Tony...

Well, she might consider his offer.

It bothered her to think of having to live with the Avengers, but most of them seemed nice enough, taking into consideration the amount of talks they would need. However, she had gotten on especially well with Bruce, but they had been company for a long time. Of course, she had been briefed on the situation by him, and Peter was expected to wake up increasingly frequently until he was back to normal.

When he woke up, May would have to keep him safe from the other Avengers. He was a strong kid, she knew, but his large heart would end up like Tony's if she wasn't careful. She wouldn't wish that pain on anyone.

And to do that, she'd just keep the Avengers in line, and hopefully make them happier as well.

"Mmh." Peter made a small noise but didn't open his eyes, he shifted closer to grab at her pant leg. Well, all the more reason to protect him.

For the next day and a half, Steve was silent.

had given him a lot to think about, and he had all the time in the world to think about it. So he did. He thought about Tony, about Sokovia, about the Accords.

He had never ended up signing them, and from what had told him, he probably should've. Now he had created more work for Tony. Speaking of, how much work had he created for him over the course of the time they had worked together? "Oh, it's fine." he da always said over the endless mugs of coffee and makeup

Tony seemed to say that a lot.

Speaking of, wasn't Steve supposed to be a perceptive man? How had he not noticed the smiles that Tony always gave him were close to his press smiles? He sat on the stairs to the balcony, staring out over the city line. The sun dyed the sky in purples and pink, reminding him of the new day tomorrow. The visitors from Wakanda were coming.

A hand tapped his shoulder. Bucky. "Hey punk, whatcha thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about... well, what said." Bucky smiled softly, strained. Steve sighed. "She's right, isn't she."

" was right. You made some mistakes, buddy, but she was wrong about one thing." Steve glanced at his boyfriend, tracing the curve of his metal arm, the one that T'Challa had given him.

"And..." Steve gulped. "What is that?"

"She never mentioned the part where you could make it better. It won't be perfect, and it won't be what could've been, but it will be better."

Steve nodded, smiling. "When did you become so wise?"

"Well, you certainly didn't get any wiser trapped for seventy years in the ice." His teasing voice came back.

Steve chuckled. "I suppose that's true."

And Steve found himself leaning into his boyfriend as the world turned darker around them.


	4. cats and kittens (or not)

To say Shuri was excited was an understatement. Today she would be arriving at Tony Stark's tower, Tony. Fucking. Stark. As in, I Am Iron Man. She knew her technology was superior, but this guy had been able to synthesize something to power an entire tower with and was 30 years ahead of everyone else in technology. And did she mention without any vibranium?

Nothing could wash the smile off her face, not even her bland pancake of a brother sitting in the seat next to her. Happy, the driver, had told them that they would be at the tower in 5 minutes. Her brother sat up straighter (ha, straighter, they were polar opposites) his crossed arms not moving in the slightest.

He was probably thinking of why they were supposed to be there in the first place: the man that they had harbored for a few months before they were moved to a US government facility and then to their trial run at Stark Tower. Shuri was there to speed up Spider-Boy's recovery and to help her brother to assess the exvengers, as had called them in the email, and as Peter called Tony.

Her hands kept pulling the handle rapidly until Happy unlocked the door, and she jumped out of the car to run to the elevator. The air was crisp with a chill unknown to the sunny plains of Africa, but it was refreshing after sitting in a stuffy car for so long. T'challa walked at a leisurely pace regal enough for a king, or as regally as he could get while holding a suitcase, and they rode the glass elevator, her brother sulking, and Shuri having taken up a conversation with FRIDAY.

"So, how is everybody? I haven't seen them in a while."

"They are fine, but Steve has a lot to think about. How are you?"

The UI had improved a lot since Shuri had last seen her, not as great as JARVIS, or so Tony claimed, but she had picked up a habit for mischief and gained some more conversation skills.

"I'm good, but it's been boring without any broken old white boys to fix. Hey, has Tony gotten into any more trouble since I last saw him?"

"No, Boss has been fine by his standards. There are some other people you may want to meet, and Miss Potts has been looking forward to seeing you."

"Nice."

Their conversation continued until they had gotten out of the elevator, and Tony was there to greet them.

"Tony, any new stuff for me to play with?"

"Hey Shuri, yeah actually, the first drawer in the 'random stuff ' section of the lab. Make sure Green Bean doesn't see you. I'm assuming you've hacked into the files and seen everything you aren't supposed to?"

"Yep!" She beamed, racing off to the lab and leaving her brother behind.

She and Tony had an odd sort of friendship, one more than the professional vibranium trading lines that Stark industries owned, where they would make gadgets for each other. They had instantly clicked. She supposed that great minds did think alike.

After she had retrieved the nondescript box from the drawer in his lab, she went off to find Peter's room from the directions she had filched from FRIDAY's databanks. She and he were going to have so much fun, but first, he had to wake up.

Best mental evaluation trial ever.

Pepper Potts had simple needs, most of those being the same as other humans. Her wants were less simple, wanting Tony to become a smarter genius, for him to sleep, and maybe those nice high heels she saw around the corner of 54th street.

Anyway, she had found someone similar to her, and she was great. May Parker was her new best friend.

They had bonded over their self-destructive children, because all honesty her fiancee was a child, and she learned the reason why May and Tony were so stressed. Peter was an enigma, but a sweet boy nonetheless. The world seemed to be converging on this point, with the Avengers evaluation and Peter being at Stark Tower.

Speaking of the evaluation, Pepper was glad that she had been called in to be one of the chaperones. God knows what Steve would do to Tony if they were left unsupervised. Apparently, May had taken him down a few notches and he had become quieter.

With newly painted nails, courtesy of Shuri, she walked with a stride given only to the CEO of a very powerful company. She scheduled a meeting with the shareholders, Tony excluded this time, organized everything, and now her only task was a board meeting with the rest of the evaluators.

The room was pleasantly full of chatter when Pepper entered. The evaluators sat around a fancy wooden table, surprisingly rustic for a technologically advanced tower such as this one. They had a view of the city below, the sun passing through the sky and December creeping closer without any sign of stopping.

Shuri and T'challa were next to each other, T'challa sighing exasperatedly at the horrifying knock knock jokes Shuri had learned. Tony, Vision, and Rhodey were also there in quiet discussion. FRIDAY had surprised everyone by projecting a form much like a hologram to sit in on the meeting, something Tony didn't know she had learned to do but was nonetheless immensely proud judging by the expression in his eyes. Bruce was blowing on a cup of tea.

The last member of the room was the one Pepper sat next to. May, Peter's aunt, smiled as Pepper took her seat. As soon as everyone had arrived, she cleared her throat and the talking died down.

"We have two issues on the table, one which you all know about, and another that has become related to it." T'challa's face twitched in confusion, as well as Vision and Rhodey raising their eyebrows.

"First things first, the Avengers evaluation. Welcome May Parker to the roster, she'll be here for the next few weeks. The evaluation period is one week long, starting tomorrow. At the end of the week, the Avengers will have been here for 12 days."

"Your role is to report every day by writing your interactions, which FRIDAY will also record." The UI waved at the mention of her name, prompting Bruce to raise his eyebrows.

Pepper nodded at her and looked at the rest of them. "Questions?"

"Yes," Vision replied. "If the Avengers have broken the law, why are they being given another chance?"

"I got this Pep," Tony interceded. "I decided that maybe not all of them are bad so we need to decide which ones. This also puts the council's trust in me even more, enhancing my reputation so I can sue the hell out of Ross for some made up shit and get him kicked off the council."

"Ah, you mean to say this is also a move to get rid of Ross? As Shuri would say, feed two birds with one scone?"

Tony blinked and nodded, replying to the king. "Yeah, basically."

"You mentioned a second item?" T'challa's eyes moved from Tony to May. He had never met her, so what made her a part of the evaluators?

"I'll be taking this, Tony, Pepper, if you don't mind." May's sharpened gaze sliced over the table and grabbed the attention of some of the less engaged.

"You know of Spider-Man, correct?" At the nods, she continued. "The one behind the mask is my nephew, Peter. Currently, he is in a state somewhat like hibernation. We have two options, try to keep the Avengers occupied enough that they won't investigate even more, or to slowly reveal stuff to them like weaning a baby."

"The problem is the fact of Peter's age. He's only 16, 14 in Germany, and is very cautious about his identity. We will eventually need to reveal this to the Avengers that end up staying anyway."

Mutterings broke out among Rhodey and Vision. "Who all knows?"

"Peter's two best friends, Ned and MJ, Shuri, Tony, Pepper, and Me. Now its everyone in this room excepting Ned and MJ."

"Are Ned and MJ trustworthy?" T'challa asked.

"Yes. You'd believe it if you saw them," she added at his skeptical face.

"That's that," Tony said with a clap. "Personally I don't think it's viable to keep Peter a secret. I'm sure our resident super spies already know, so we can probably mess with them. Rogers, Barnes, and Maximoff probably won't find out, they're on the danger list anyhow."

"You do what's best Tony. I trust you with Peter." Most were surprised with the sureness in May's tone. She looked at the people and clapped. "Meeting adjourned."

They got up, some chatting and Bruce not caring to move. Pepper and May talked, Shuri assaulting FRIDAY with questions about her hologram, and Tony leaving immediately.

Tony and Natasha needed to have a chat.

Natasha suspected that Tony knew.

What did he know? To what extent? she had no fucking clue, but he knew. Now she sat on a chair not too far from the door of a random board room on floor 78. The door opened, and Tony walked in.

"Hello."

Such a simple thing to say. "Hello, Stark."

"Ah, still calling me by my last name. You know it's just Tony right? " his gaze mock-sharpened and he began to question her. "Wait, you do know my name? Isn't it on all of the newspapers and patents?"

"You did have a point?" sighed Natasha. She could probably afford to be rude if Tony was snarking (Heh, starking.) His smile dropped, not in a sudden change of mood or a deflated happiness, but his mask of teasing fun fell away to the more serious side he rarely showed.

"Yes. First, call me Tony. Second?" He looked up at the ceiling, strolling over to sit on the table in the middle of the room. He took a small breath before diving in. "I need to know if I can put my faith in you. I won't trust you, but I'll try to believe I could."

"How am I supposed to prove that?" Her eyebrow raised, SHIELD-bred as if they had been trained to do so. She leaned back, even as Tony gave her a halfhearted glare.

"Everything you do is proof. What I need to know are your intentions."

Natasha said nothing but corrected her posture so she wasn't leaning towards the door. "Concerning what?"

"The Avengers. Do you intend on being loyal, even with all that you were raised into? Can we know that you'll have our backs in battle?"

"Mm." A noncommittal hum. "I'll try."

Tony sighed leaning his head back. "What I mean to say is that however much you don't trust us, however much you hate me, I want to be able to look at you and smile and say: 'Yep, that's our widow.'"

"Stark... " she began but he cut her off.

"I know that we both have red in our ledgers, but this is a place where we've found a home. I'd like it to be our home. And… maybe have you see it like that sometime. It doesn't have to be now, it doesn't have to be soon. Just, we miss you. We miss the way the team used to be. Sure we had some issues, but we can make it work." He smiled down at the memory of a feeling. "I'd like to move on with you all."

Natasha opened her mouth slightly and closed it again. Clint did say to at least attempt an understanding, but this was more emotion than she was used to dealing with. She had found a family with the Avengers, once upon a time. With the civil war it was like two parents that held custody over the team, and she couldn't decide who she wanted to stay with more, and now to suddenly have the option to have both?

She stood and went to leave, stopping at the door. For whatever reason Tony's disappointment was something she didn't want. She supposed she could gain nothing bad from saving the world, and perhaps something like a family with it.

"I'll do it." And she left. Tony stood up, shaking his head with his arms still crossed, but he was smiling.

"And they say I'm dramatic."


	5. someone (fixed)

They had moved Peter to a medical room, probably a better idea than in a high loft where it was hard to reach him. He had unconsciously responded to people he was close to, proving that his "spidey sense" worked even while he was asleep. Shuri and Bruce had met only once before when T'challa had come to negotiate the vibranium supplies and Shuri had insisted on coming with.

Back then, she and Tony had only spoken through a hologram, but she preferred the man face to face. You simply couldn't catch all of the gestures in a screen. Most other adults she was surrounded by were so uptight. They didn't even watch vines.

Idiots.

Bruce was checking Peter's vitals, and from his expression, they had gotten better. Shuri pursed her lips, staring at the hyper-reflective nail polish she had worn today. She decided that she thoroughly liked Pepper. She remembered when they had all met, her, Pepper and Peter's aunt, May.

Miss Pepper Potts, soon to be Mrs, had called Shuri to a comfortable room with a few armchairs and couches. She sat with freshly poured tea, Nana flavor judging by the potent mint in the air. Jaggery powder and classic sugar cubes rested next to the navy porcelain pot, matched with three teacups.

Just as Shuri sat down, another woman came in. She had reddish-brown hair down to her shoulders, and a pair of clear glasses on her face. She took her seat across from Pepper and took the cup that was offered to her.

"Well, I'm glad to see you all came to this little tea party, even if it does make me feel like a small girl. I'm Pepper Potts. May, this is Princess Shuri, King T'challa's sister. Shuri, this is May Parker. "

"Please, just call me Shuri, none of that princess stuff here. it's lovely to meet you ." Shuri made it a rule to always use Mz. When you weren't sure if someone's marital status. It was generally polite.

"The pleasure is all mine. I'm May, Peter's aunt. I've heard you'll be helping to speed his recovery? "

"I'll try," Shuri replied, a small smile creeping across her face. This May had steel in her eyes, like she and T'challa's mother, and Pepper herself. "These superheroes are always getting in trouble, they're so reckless."

"Ah, yes they are." May smiled. Success! "Have you heard this story? Well, I suppose not, but when Peter was little he refused to eat any bologna..."

Needless to say, they had gotten along.

And now the only thing Shuri needed to do was to wake up this boy. She nodded to Bruce, wrapping the quilt tighter around Peter. They were going to send a small electric pulse through him to see if they could evoke the feeling of wakefulness.

3... 2... 1...

Unfortunately, it didn't make a beeping noise or some other sci-fi thing, but Peter did twitch, eyelids fluttering before settling shut again. They had laid him on his back, but he began to curl up in his side again.

Ah, habits.

Shuri grinned up at Bruce.

It was going to work.

Wanda only felt frustration. At the world, at herself, at Steve, at Tony, the list went on. There were more important things to do than to sit and do nothing, like, she didn't know, but something was bound to come up. Right now, however, the ceiling was the only thing on her list. More specifically, staring blankly at it.

Sometimes she wished that she hadn't gotten her powers at all.

Not to say she didn't like having the ability to slam someone into a wall with a flick of the wrist or change their minds when they were wrong, but she couldn't have lived a normal life if she wanted to.

And now she was supposed to be a grand superhero and save the world every Sunday.

The ceiling was white and clinical like everything else in the tower. She had never been there before and had felt strangely awed at the advances Stark had made over SHIELD, and what she now knew was HYDRA.

Damn, she needed to stop thinking about that, she couldn't believe she and her brother had been tricked.

"Can I come in?" Said a voice beyond the door. A playful knock came in an unfamiliar pattern, but she recognized the voice.

Wanda nodded, hoping Stark would be told through FRIDAY. She didn't trust her voice to speak right now.

"Are you alright?" Stark said, softer than she expected. The man was usually loud and annoying. "Stupid question. Can I sit down?"

He gestured to the bed. Wanda nodded. As he took his seat she felt sure enough to speak again. "Why are you here?"

"To apologize." Wanda looked at him. The man's face was worn and tired, filled with a strange sort of compassion and pity, but not for her. He was feeling worried and worn raw at the sight of Rogers, but didn't hold a grudge except against anyone else.

She didn't realize her fingertips were glowing red until he said her name for what she suspected wasn't the first time, trying to get her attention. "Ah, yes?"

"Does that happen often?"

"Not usually, but sometimes they're hard to control."

"Ah." They sat in silence, something not quite awkward but with the tension of a conversation needed. "I can get someone to help you with that."

"Who?" She was curious, were there others like her and her brother? HYDRA experiments?

"Dr. Steven Strange. He's a sort of wizard-y type, knows some sort of magic. Don't let him know I said that, the prick would never let me live it down."

"Don't let him know you called him a prick?" She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Oh no, I don't care about that part, just don't let him know about the whole believing in magic thing."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" She didn't think Stark would have anything to atone to.

"Keeping you on the compound without telling you. Treating you like you're some... I don't know." He paused, looking at the wall. "Anyway, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." That was something you were supposed to say, but this time she felt it was needed.

"Thanks." Stark looked around at her with a small smile, different from the other ones she had seen so far. "And I can call up Strange of you want, for your magic wizard training."

Wanda smiled back, and in her mind, Stark was upgraded to Tony. "Sure."

And then they talked. It was nice.

Bucky couldn't sleep. It seemed many troubling situations (and chapters) started with this one line. This wasn't supposed to be a troubling situation, and so doing what any person would do when they couldn't sleep but were too comfortable to move, he stared at the ceiling contemplating his life choices thus far. His arm, the new one with vibranium that Tony had reworked so he could feel, sat on the bedside table, and his boyfriend was on the other side, still asleep.

Years of being the Winter Soldier had given him the ingrained instinct to need less sleep, more of a gesture to avoid punishment and pain than ability, but still something he possessed. The leftovers from a really shitty TV dinner that seemed like something a HYDRA handler would eat in prison. Years of being the Winter Soldier also gave him a sense of when something was wrong, and something felt off.

Silently slipping out from under the covers, he let his feet roll across the carpet in case there was something to creak. He fastened his arm back on smoothly, thanking someone that Tony had managed to make it as beautifully feeling the same as his flesh one. Not stopping for a moment, the rhythm of sneaking around came comfortingly to him.

The hallway was dark and the curtains drawn. This was his and Steve's floor, and he wasn't expecting any packages at 2 in the morning either, so why in God's name was the elevator open? The gaping maw of the door had long since settled on its perch on the 30th floor, so why would it be... Well, there?

a scuttling noise, similar to an absurdly bad monster movie except the number of human centipedes was kept to a minimum. A shadow lay itself across the floor from the blinking green light of the elevator.

Dink. Dink. Dink.

The green speck vanished, something blocking it from view. Something was on the ceiling. Dark and with heavy huffing of breath. It mumbled indiscernably.

"I... Smell cereal." It spoke quietly, hesitantly.

Bucky couldn't help it.

He screeched.

Peter heard a scream.

Was that him, or the scary looking fellow on the ceiling? Or was it him on the ceiling?

And where was that cereal, anyway?

Abruptly deciding that these dear chaps were not useful, as they didn't have any cereal, Peter left. It occurred to him that he couldn't remember being this hungry for years. Cereal, Oh, that beautiful soup. did cereal count as a soup?

He found himself on a different floor, and from the roaring bass, it was 's. Maybe if he could find a way to get everyone off the ceiling, he could work on some stuff in the lab. Deciding for himself that yes, this was a logical decision, Peter opened the door.

sat, humming along to what Peter recognized as "Inject the Venom," working on something that looked suspiciously like a ring. Peter crept along the beams, jumping to the ceiling - Ah so it was the floor- and landing somewhere behind . Vision was standing in the back of the room in a state somewhat like sleep, but not quite. Vision often was speaking with FRIDAY.

"Pete?" He said, shocked. "What are you doing awake?"

seemed to remember something and smiled slightly before pulling out a box of granola bars. He handed these to Peter and watched carefully as he unwrapped and ate them.

Suddenly the room seemed warmer, luring him back into the comforting quiet of darkness. He went to sit on the couch and felt his eyelids slipping shut.

A quiet murmuring of "Oh Pete," and a soft chuckle were the last things he heard, and the firmness of a blanket wrapped around him and strong arms lifting him up were the last things he felt.

Peter, the little idiot, had moved to stage 2 of "Wake my Stupid Spider Intern up." Bruce had said something like this would happen, animals often making trips to get food or water. Now, wrapped in a bundle of blankets and snoring softly, he just had to get the kid back to the medbay.

Unfortunately, life hated him: Both Clint and Natasha were outside the doors to the room he needed Peter to be in.

"Clint." His voice was burning cold. had he told Natasha?

"Tony, Natasha had figured it out and came to me. I swear the kid isn't in any danger. Besides, FRIDAY kept hinting at us. "

Tony exhaled slowly, pulling the ice out of his veins to melt in puddles of warning. "Well, anyway, Natasha and I have already had a talk, haven't we? Looks like none of you are going to die today."

His joking was partially an apology and partially to remind them of why they weren't going to say anything. He walked past them and set Peter down in his nest of pillows and comforters, arranging him in his blanket burrito.

Clint and Natasha had followed him inside, although they lingered at the door, wondering who on earth this kid was that could get such gentleness out of the famous Tony Stark.

He must be pretty great.

-(extra)-

Bucky slowly crept back to his side of the bed beside Steve. He was grateful for once that Steve slept like a log.

If he heard his manly scream that may have been embarrassing.

He told nobody of what transpired that night.


	6. local seidmadr destroys a purple grape

Peter blinked at the ceiling. Everything rushed back, the cold, the stiffness, and he could only lay there. an incessant beeping came from his left, his vitals popped up in a hologram from his right. He was smothered in blankets and pillows.

He tried to sit up, though he still felt weak, and stared dimly at his information.

Peter Benjamin Parker, Spider-Man, Stark heir and intern

Status: Post-hibernation exhaustion

Recommended: eat some food or something, spidey

(Log updated by ?-Shuri-?)

Whomst the fuck? Whyst the fuck?

Whoever Shuri was, Peter looked forward to meeting them.

Peter decided to greet the day by wandering down to 's lab. He wasn't in there, but obligatory sandwiches were at the insistence of Rhodey and Pepper. Luckily for Peter, Pepper knew his favorite sandwich type (flavor? Stuff? Topping?)

He was in the middle of his delighted snacking when he heard an alarmingly loud crash and a shout of "HELLO, MIDGARDIANS, I HAVE ARRIVED!"

Well, shit, if it wasn't Thor.

"BROTHER, DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE!"

Well, shit.

If that wasn't Loki too.

Tony Stark was having a lovely cup of 20% caffeine coffee when a flash of light left a burn mark on the carpet and standing on the burn mark were two Norse Gods. More accurately, one was standing and the other was carried under one of his arms.

Thor looked... well? He had changed, for one thing. His hair was cut short, one of his eyes was gone, but the thing that had struck Tony was the amount of weight on his shoulders. It was something he had felt, had seen others bear: the weight of lives and responsibilities. That could mean only one thing, Thor was now the king. Despite the weariness of his stance, his eyes sparkled with happiness as he took in his old friends.

The other God was one that Tony had hoped to forget. Loki. He looked different from when he had last seen him, less insane evil overlord and more annoyed introvert that had been dragged out to somewhere in public. He supposed that had to do with the slight tiredness in his eyes and how Loki was clearly not dressed for battle, but instead in a soft garment much like a robe from what Tony could see.

"Man of Iron, I'm glad to see you well."

"You too, Point-break, how's everything back up there?"

At this, Thor's face fell slightly. "Asgard... Is no more. We have come into the vicinity of your planet, and teleported from the refugee ship."

"I'm sorry." There was nothing else to say. Tony could assume which lives had been lost, judging from the look on Thor's face. "And Loki? I thought he was dead."

"Ahh, well, nearly again. In his most recent battle, he was injured most grievously. He wished to leave the healer's care and so I brought him here."

Tony looked at Loki more closely. Well, the exhaustion made more sense now. He could see bandages wrapped inconspicuously around his throat. "So he nearly died to defend Asgard?"

He wouldn't have thought Loki would've changed that much. Thor looked askance. "No, not exactly. Loki had neglected to mention his plan to kill one of his oldest enemies."

Loki only responded with a burning glare that would've turned anyone else to ashes.

Just then, others filtered in. May, for one, and Shuri. T'challa followed behind, as well as Bruce, Natasha, and Steve. Clint was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on? Thor is that you?"

"Aye, Steve."

"Wait, hold on," Tony interrupted, "How come he's Steve but I'm Man of Iron?"

Steve looked like he was about to sigh of say something about how Tony shouldn't be so rude, but thankfully kept quiet. Tony raised an eyebrow at May, who stared innocently back.

"Ah, no reason." Thor seemed to realize something and set Loki down on a squishy armchair that must've been at least 30 years old. Loki, although annoyed, just glared at Thor before curling into himself further. "Please forgive my manners, ladies, and King. I am Thor Odinson, King of the Asgardians and brother to all. "

Loki raised his eyebrows from his place on the chair as if to say 'really? All-brother?'

Natasha was doing the eyeball thingie, staring at Loki and Thor and analyzing them. Loki only gave her an exasperated glance, but Thor didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't care. Shuri was practically vibrating, to the contrast of her brother's calm demeanor. May had a small smile on her face and she held out a hand to greet him.

"I'm May Parker It's nice to meet you, Thor. I've heard many great things about you."

"Likewise, Lady May. You have the spirit of a warrior."

May turned to Loki with a friendly emotion in her eye, dissimilar to her assessing look from when she had first entered the room. "It is also lovely to meet you, Loki."

Loki merely nodded. He had not spoken once, which might've been rude if he hadn't looked so utterly exhausted. Shuri practically bounced up to Thor and shook his hand like a dog with a toy. "Hello, Thor! I've heard many, many things about you and all of them were interesting. I'd like to see you in the lab sometime! I'm Shuri by the way."

"Ah, young Shuri, I would be honored to take part in your curiosity quest!" Thor became more exuberant at the thought, while Bruce snickered behind the cup of tea he always seemed to have.

"King Thor, I am King T'challa of Wakanda. It is a pleasure to meet you finally."

"King T'challa, it is well met."

Satisfied with the greetings, Thor went to speak to the rest of the group while Shuri talked to Loki, who seemed too out of it to do anything other than giving a nod at the correct pauses. Finally, a question came up from Steve that somebody needed to ask. "What happened up there?"

Thor's face turned darker, Loki's eyebrows raising as he shifted to a slightly more comfortable position. Rogers stared expectantly, missing the somber tone the room had taken on. Natasha crossed her legs where she sat on the arm of the couch, Clint turning slightly to face Thor. Tony wanted to facepalm. How about we bring up surely traumatic memories for our houseguests, thanks, Rogers!

Shuri sat on the back of Loki's armchair and raised an eyebrow in a form of silent communication that she and Loki had suddenly developed. Someone else crouched high on the wall, listening in unnoticed, and another in an air duct.

"Asgard was destroyed when our eldest sister, Hela, returned. Odin has done more wrong than I should like to have been raised by. She wished for revenge against our people. We had to destroy her with Asgard, and so it is no more. "

"And what was that about old enemies and Loki?"

Thor glanced at Loki, who nodded with the barest of movements.

"It is a story, to be sure..."

They had been on the ship for a mere two weeks when Loki first attempted to leave. The familiar tingling chimes of Yggdrasil filled the air and Loki tried to begin his walk upon the branches, but Thor had been restless that night and had caught him. Valkyrie had woken from the noise, only to find an angry Thor and the special type of fuck-off that Loki only got when he was trying to get rid of people that cared for him.

" Thor, you do not understand. I must fight him alone, Asgard needs its king! "

" Asgard is no more, and last I checked a king needs his advisors. Even more so when those advisors are also your little brother and have an enemy that he will most certainly not return from alive."

"What's this about Lackey dying again?" Valkyrie interrupted.

"Nothing," Loki said

At the same time, Thor replied, "Loki has decided to go off to kill someone on his own in the middle of the night."

"And why won't lackey return?"

"No reason. Thor is making assumptions."

"Loki, you left a note saying goodbye and to not mourn you if you do not return. Please tell me who threatens you so."

"No," Loki ground out through gritted teeth. "You do not understand. You–" He broke off into a strangled gasping noise from deep in his throat. Choking back what may have been panic, he widened the shimmering rip of noise, preparing to go through.

Thor gently took his arm, staring tenderly into his brother's face in that way he did to convey a sense of trust. "Loki, please. Simply tell us where you met him."

" I- I," Loki began, but could not seem to get the words out. "I have to go. I'm going to kill him I swear–"

"Who, Loki, who?"

"Thanos."

The name sent an unpleasant chill down the spines of everyone in the room, those two being Thor and Valkyrie. The former examined Loki further. Rage was not the only emotion held rigid in Loki's stance, fear playing out from the seams and upon ever closer inspection came the desperation.

Loki was desperate to kill this Thanos.

Valkyrie had known Loki to kill out of strategy, it was his trademark, but desperation? That called for a special kind of fear. What had Thanos done to make Loki so irrational? It did not matter either way. If something was that large of a threat that it could kill a king of Asgard, then Loki wouldn't have to fight it alone.

"Alright, Lackey, let's go." Thor and the mentioned looked at her, surprised.

"You want to help me kill Thanos," Loki said slowly, disbelievingly.

"Yep! Let's go. Thor, you coming?"

"Naturally, what would I do if my comrades would go to battle without me?" Thor responded quickly, his eyes twinkling as he caught on.

"But, you can't! What would happen to the people of this ship when two of their best warriors are gone? Think about this rationally. Me going alone makes the most sense."

"No choice brother. lead the way."

Sighing, Loki flattened his hand and pulled a tear directly into the air in front of him. He was mumbling something about simply falling through instead of having to cater the hole towards other people.

The rip that Loki made closed up behind their group, the deep shimmer of the void on either side as they walked along a branch. Thor tried to keep himself balanced on the worn path. He kept his eyes open the barest amount, squinting against the assault of energy and tinkling bells and the singing of the world tree. Loki was ahead of their small party, relaxed among the thrum and the trills like he was born amongst them. Granted, he probably had spent enough time wandering the branches to feel at home.

They eventually reached their destination after the curving, twisted path they had taken to reach the tip of a branch. Instead of ripping another tear, Loki looked at them and grimaced.

"This is my least favorite part." And then he jumped into the void, disappearing into the starry gloop. Thor shuddered, whether that was his distaste or the fact that the numbing effect of the power here was seeping into his bones without Loki around, he wasn't sure. He followed.

The cold burned, searing his arms as he fell in slow motion and yet faster than light. He belatedly realized this must have been what Loki felt for however long he was falling in the void.

He landed surprisingly softly for the speed they fell, Valkyrie landing beside him soon after. It was bleak and cold, the charcoal gray of the earth also blowing in the wind. Everything was cold it seemed, but perhaps Loki hadn't noticed.

Loki looked for all the world like a man marching to his death. His mouth was set in a grim line, green eyes burning resolutely at a throne of dark marble with a figure upon it.

Thor looked across the landscape at the thing that had made an enemy of his brother. Thanos was tall and a peculiar shade of purple for his hulking size. His dark eyes stared out with malevolence over their group of three. Daresay Thor called it a hunting party.

"Ah, my little Loki." His deep voice rang across the empty land. "My youngest son."

"I am not yours."

"You became that when I caught you from the void. How many months must you have spent falling? How many more would you have fallen?"

"Must you remind me?" Loki drawled. He looked about with a grade of nonchalance, but Thor could see him rigid with anger and fire.

"I suppose you've come here for revenge?"

"I intend to take it."

And then they were fighting.

Loki struck rather ironically like a snake, darting around the larger being that had stood in the amount of time it took Loki to get there. Thanos was a being of brute strength, but his agility was surprisingly high for this fact. It was like a dance between Loki's dagger and the flesh of Thanos' throat, neither yielding in the wildness of the music.

Valkyrie ran, jumping upon Thanos' back to distract and keep him still. Loki flashed her a grateful look before summoning a barrage of knives, how many were illusions Thor didn't know, but they soon left holes riddling his body for him to bleed out with.

It was then Thor found his body moving and lightning crackling along his arms, rushing towards the fight. Valkyrie and Loki moved in battle like they had been shield brothers for life, and Thor joined in perfectly. Thanos wasn't sure to turn, from Loki's magic and the electricity diving deep into his wounds, not to mention Valkyrie slashing open his thick hide.

What really tipped the battle was when Loki grew a spear of ice and plunged it through Thanos' chest.

"What, Thor you didn't think I spent my entire time lounging as Odin? I did pick up some things while running around the universe." Thor smiled at the oddness of change and what it had done to his brother. From hating the Jotuns to learning from them.

Thanos made a choking noise as his blood washed into his throat and out through his chest. Stepping back, Thanos plucked a knife out of thin air and blindly slashed. Loki ripped a portal and sent thousands of ice slivers through Thanos before grabbing Valkyrie and Thor and running. The enemy collapsed behind them in a tower of his own lifeblood and ice.

Blood, red and deep, flowed through the air as Loki ran, coming from a gash diagonally across his throat. Thor felt the cold water of panic trickle down his back and into his bones. That was... a lot of blood. Loki grew ever paler and trembled as he attempted to hold back a cough. Valkyrie firmly placed a hand on his throat as they ran, putting pressure on the wound.

Loki wasted no time for quips in jumping to the ship.

"Healer!" Thor bellowed, not caring who he woke up. "We need a healer!"

"And so we vanquished the enemy." Thor glanced at Loki. "But he will not tell us what this enemy means to him. Indeed he will never tell anyone anything again."

"You mean his larynx was cut?" Shuri interrupted.

"Yes."

"Shit," Tony muttered. That meant he wouldn't be able to speak. "Sure we can take care of him."

Thor closed his mouth. "How did you know that was what I was going to ask?"

"It's obvious because we know you. Loki can stay here."

Thor smiled broadly, Loki rolled his eyes and gave a look to Shuri, who gave one back. That silent communication was creepy. Clint bristled slightly.

"I don't care what he does as long as it's away from me." Clint stood and walked to his floor stiffly. The shadowed figure on the wall left as well.

"Thank you, friend Stark." Thor raised a dagger that looked suspiciously like it was one of Loki's, and was gone.

"Welp, that was fun! Party's over!" Tony said, walking over to Loki and speaking quietly with Shuri and about the medbay.

Rogers and Natasha left together, gaining a suspicious glance from T'challa, who walked to the kitchen and browsed for Cheez-its. May joined him and began to talk with him. Clint crawled away from the vents.

Loki was the newest member of the tower.


	7. The one where things get done

After Thor had told his absolutely riveting tale, he left again. Leaving his poor, devastated brother behind. Loki would've protested being left with these people, but one, he was exhausted, two, he couldn't speak, and three...

Well, it was actually a rather smart decision, considering his, well, condition. Loki probably couldn't do anything without putting his breathing tubes in danger. He could do much less if he was dead, but then again, the thought of nothingness was so comforting, like a warm fuzzy blanket.

Perhaps he should visit the healers.

This Midgardian, Shuri, was royalty like himself, though didn't care for the title. If Loki had a choice, he would cast off his titles, his name even, to become a wanderer and write of his travels across the universe. He never wanted to become a king. What use would it be anyway? He had been shackled enough.

Ah, Shuri was saying something. "Loki, let's go to the medbay, I want to check out your throat."

Why did he suddenly feel a sense of foreboding?

Loki really didn't feel like getting up, but he did anyway and began to sway slightly. Blood had rushed to his head in the strange way it did, only for Shuri to support him.

That was... Strange. Especially considering the looks that her brother and the rest of the people in the room gave him. He supposed an attack on Manhattan, no matter how forced, was a merit for suspicion. They made the journey slowly, Shuri telling him about things that had happened since his invasion. He was confused. Shuri showed absolutely no apprehension towards him.

"Hey, if you're done trying to pass out on me, I'll tell you about the time Nakia and I almost ruined the royal hall..."

She didn't hesitate to laugh at his raised eyebrows at the stuff she got up to. She even showed him the video of T'challa exploding against the wall. Loki couldn't smother a snort, which hurt slightly but was completely worth it.

Shuri looked the other teen on the bed, who was currently pretending to be asleep. This must be what Stark was so worried about. Loki wasn't good at lying for nothing, he could see it in the lines of Iron Man's face. Loki tilted his head towards the boy. He felt... Off. He smelled different than other humans and hey, you couldn't judge Loki because you don't have a Jotun's sense of smell.

Speaking of, as soon as he was left alone Loki wanted to get rid of this Asgardian skin that Odin had forced upon him. Meeting the Jotnar had changed so much, and so much more had made sense. He only wished he could've spoken with his dam while he was there, but his disguise wouldn't have made that possible.

Shuri, noticing where his gaze had landed, startled a bit and looked at the heart monitor. Then, a scowl turning into an expression of glee, she returned with a small cup of water. Loki held up a hand just as she was about to pour it onto the poor child's head. He reached out and lowered the water temperature until it was almost ice.

He nodded and snickered soundlessly as the mystery teen sat up with a gasp and a splutter. Shuri held up a hand, and after a moment's hesitation, Loki did the same. A resounding slap could be heard throughout the room.

Shuri turned to the kid. "S'up spider bitch, I'm Shuri and this is Loki. Want to go watch Friends?"

And 15 minutes later, that's exactly what they did.

They were all staring at the TV, the volume low and the lights lower. The curtains were surprisingly floral for a high tech tower, but Peter supposed that it made the tower feel homier. The couch, however, was an odd sort of puce that went against the decor rather than complimenting it. Speaking of the couch, two of them on it, Shuri on the floor and leaning back so they could mess with her hair in a short, straight style easy to maintain.

Peter sat against the arm of the couch and shot a look towards Loki, who was laid out on most of it. He had to be carried there and was currently within the demon trap that was the blanket burrito. "Want some juice?"

Loki blinked. He warily nodded and Shuri giggled at the Capri Sun that was brought forward in a strange ceremony known only to the juice gods. Loki took the juice with the minimus amount of movement needed and, surprisingly, was able to figure out how to put the straw in. Peter remembered mentioning that he had to teach Thor how to use a juice box.

"So, other than this whole shebang, how are y'all?" Shuri asked both of them.

"I'm good. Could use with less Exvengers bullshit, but good," Peter said. "I mean, I've been awake for what, 3 hours, and I can already taste the toxicity oozing off of Steve. and I have a feeling he's been getting better. He's improved from what he used to be. how?"

Shuri nodded. "It be like that sometimes. Anything to add Loki?"

Peter supposed he couldn't speak, and from the position he was in (on the couch with a suspiciously pink blanket,) he couldn't do much else either. Even from here he could see the paleness of his skin and the shadows under his eyes.

Well, getting your throat cut and losing a lot of your blood will do that to you.

Loki attempted... something. The green wisps of light fizzled out and left him with a disappointed look on his face. He took a sad sip of his Roarin' Waters Fruit Blast and shrugged. Peter saw the way Loki's hands shook, even if he tried to hide it.

"Ok, that's probably not the best choice." Peter thought for a second. "do you know sign?"

"Why would he know ASL if he was raised in Asgard?" Shuri asked. Loki nodded to her. His hand emerged from the hot pink fluff, miming writing. "Ah, let me get that."

After Shuri returned with a notebook and pen, Loki began writing furiously in a languid script, stopping to show them a sentence and raise his eyebrows in the approximate height to convey whatever emotion is felt when telling about some crap.

'Oh my, I have so much bullshit to tell you about.'

Shuri smiled slightly. "Spill the tea, sis."

And Peter ended up giggling- sorry, manly chuckling- throughout the entire conversation.

Pepper looked at her 21st living room. It was a complete mess. In the middle, was a Norse god, a princess, and a spider baby.

"Peter..." She growled lowly.

"Eep!"

Pepper Potts sighed at the three children in front of her, looking suitably guilty, or at the very least acting like it. Loki was, predictably, the most convincing, but nobody could get away from Pepper's mom instincts. Shuri was second best, and Peter was the worst. she rubbed her forehead, because apparently they had just been watching a movie, but the state of the room suggested otherwise.

"How on earth did you get lingonberry jam on the ceiling?" she asked.

"Um.. We were having toast."

Loki held up a notepad that said 'with butter first, we aren't heathens.'

"As much as I agree, you should also agree with the fact that you deserve to clean this all up?"

'alas, I was recently injured and I can barely move.'

"Fine, fine. Fine. Shuri, don't use your royalty as an excuse." Shuri closed her mouth. "Peter, you clean the ceiling, Shuri the floor, and Loki? I don't know, just sit there or whatever. I can already tell you're your resident terror trio."

Pepper didn't bother to withhold her sigh. She promptly left the room, and where were those documents she was supposed to review?

Peter Parker was a simple man. Well, teenage mutant spider superhero, but a simple one nonetheless. So as he sat there weaving some sort of shape with yarn, he looked up at the newly dubbed 'Terror Trio' and thought about all the things he had done, and the things he hadn't done. One of those things was talking to the Avengers, really spoken to them.

Fortunately for them both, Loki had enough 'seidr' (as he had underlined several times) to clean the room. He did, however make them fetch him yet another smoothie. His throat hadn't healed, suffice to say he wasn't the one who got jam on the ceiling.

"So," he said, concentrating. "Since I'm awake now, I can do stuff right?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"I'm just saying we have an entire building full of Avengers and most of them don't know my identity."

Loki's eyes sharpened and he leaned forward to the best of his ability. They read the notebook. 'And what's stopping you from terrifying them?'

"Absolutely nothing."

"Well, if we're going to do that, we need to get Wanda first. She's leaving tomorrow."

"Oof. Let's plan."

"Wanda." Someone was whispering sharply, more of a burst of air than a slow gnashing of teeth. The voice came out sharp and bristling and sent a shiver down her spine, the prickles of cold intent growing in waves.

"Wanda." She turned her head slightly, keeping her stance deceptively relaxed and open, and yet ready to explode into action. She dutifully kept her hands from sparking, her eyes wide to record any threat.

"WANDA!" A voice shouted in front of her. She fell back and stared at the teenager, who was somehow taller than her?

Nevermind, screw this. What type of teenager could stand on a ceiling? But then again, she could use glowing red magic from her fingers so who was she to judge.

"I wanted to say hello, but you have to go soon, so now it's goodbye. I'm Peter. Don't tell you met me because then he'll be worried, and that's not good for him."

"Wh-what?"

Peter looked frustrated and whispered aggressively into an earpiece. "I told you this was a bad idea! Shut up Shuri, and you too Loki, I can tell you're doing that smug little smile of yours. So what if I met you 3 hours ago? I know you guys!" Peter looked up at Wanda. Down? And continued. "Anyway, just wanted to talk to you. have fun with Doctor Strange!"

And Peter crawled into an open vent on the ceiling and was gone.

"The fuck?"

A sparking circle of… bits? opened up in front of her, a certain sorcerer supreme stepping out of the portal he has just made. "Maximoff? You ready?"

"Yeah." She smiled slightly.

And they walked on through.

Steve looked uncomfortably at Tony, and the two "indifferent" spies off to the side. Bucky had met them in the hallway halfway, with imploringly tender eyes and a steady pressure keeping him grounded. "Tony... We need to talk. "

He merely raised an eyebrow, drawing attention to how utterly exhausted the man looked, Steve taking a deep breath and Bucky squeezing his hand.

"I'm sorry."

The words wanted to pour out of him like a river, endless excuses for what he had done wrong. Bucky's hand was firm in his, a grounding reassurance that only another old timer could provide. Steve glanced up from his feet to see the surprise on Clint's face, Natasha's carefully concealed interest, and the complete shock on Tony's. The man was always smiling, even when it seemed to hurt, so it was strange that he wasn't now. The mouth, frozen shut, and the eyes a millimeter wider than usual attested to this.

"I'm sorry for always putting you down, for ignoring you, for comparing you to Howard..." Steve broke off. Boiling disgust sank deep into his gut. "I've been a real asshole. I've become exactly what I used to fight against."

Natasha's eyebrow raised slightly as if she was about to make a quip, but she stayed silent in favor of staring him down.

"I'm just a bully."

"Babe-" Bucky began but Steve shook his head. This was between him and Tony.

"You know what?" Tony crossed his arms, looking slightly askance at their pair of super spies before burning his gaze through Steve's. "You're right. You have been an asshole." Steve shriveled a bit. "But the fact that you're willing to try makes you slightly less of one. and one more thing, I've been an asshole too."

He looked up at Steve and took a step closer. "I think we got off on the wrong foot." He extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Tony." He smiled slightly, not a media smile, or a strained one full of pain, but a real one. "I'd like to get to know you better."

Steve smiled, but this time broadly. He took Tony's hand. "Hi, I'm Steve. I'd like that too."

-Extra-

Bucky and Steve were simply sitting in their chair with Steve's favorite blue blanket wrapped around them, watching the old Wizard of Oz, when someone fell out of the ceiling.

With a slight cough and a wince as dust fell into their eyes, they grumbled a bit and managed to stand up before noticing the date they had interrupted with a small squeak. Upon closer inspection, it was a boy in his late teens, who looked somewhat meet on the surface but somehow held a confidence rarely found in someone other than one who knows they could win in a fight.

Or maybe that was his super-soldier assassin spy hydra training.

"So, uh, I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow? But I think we can fit a short meeting in?" To a small comm on his face he whispered. "shut up! I'm not good in social situations!"

"So. What are you doing in the tower?" Steve ventured with a small tilt of his head. Bucky resisted the urge to smile at his boyfriend. He was trying to be intimidating, but Bucky could always tell when he was nervous.

"Um." The boy stood, tapping his foot, hands behind his back, the silence oozing thicker around them. "I live here?"

Three pairs of eyebrows shot up, Pepper walking into the room. "Oh?"

"Ah, Pepper! Um, I was just talking to Captain America and the Winter Soldier!"

"I can see that. And when were you planning on telling May and Tony you were awake?"

"Um. Now would be a good time?"

"That's right!"

And pepper held a gentle grip on the boy's shoulder that suggested he didn't run away. They heard one last bit from their conversation as they walked away.

"Wait- FRIDAY? Did you tell her where I was?"

"No. We have trackers in the tower telling us where everyone's life force is."

"I didn't think you took me for a snitch Peter?"

"Ah! FRIDAY I'm sorry!"


	8. im blue if i were green i would die

Peter stood before the executioners: May, , FRIDAY's projection, and Vision. He stood beside the fifth one: the deadly Pepper Potts. He was dead.

"So," May started. "When did you plan on telling us you were awake?"

"Oh, um." Peter was stuttering. "Uh. I was. Um... I was going to tell you soon?" He shuffled his feet, his hands gripping each other. "I kinda forgot?"

"How do you forget?" She continued, standing up. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his body. Whispering close. "We were worried. Tony hasn't had proper sleep for days. Not that that's new, but we were hoping he'd grown out of it."

Something black and bile rose up in Peter and cut itself off to flow through his veins. He swallowed back whatever response came to his mouth and instead focused on hugging her tighter without breaking all of her bones. stood up as well, from his place at Pepper's side, striding purposefully over to their little huddle.

"No. Nope. Nada. I know that expression. Stop feeling guilty. It's not your fault." said. "It's mostly mine, for having such bad habits, but if nobody's going to stay up then I will."

"Tony-" Pepper began in that tone she reserved for sadness.

"Can you all just- shut up." The words came out meaning to be strong but instead choked with emotion. "Just- it's my fault and I made you all worried. And now I'm going to cry because I'm so lucky that all of you can be here with me even if other people can't."

"Pete…"

"It's not anyone's fault." Pepper stated with a tone of finality. "Now tell us about school."

Peter sniffed and swallowed, and began."W-well, did I tell you about what MJ said to Flash? Anyway, it started on Tuesday…"

"Punk, get up, I need a glass of water," Bucky said. Steve made some sort of dying squid noise in protest but moved over just enough to let his boyfriend pass by. Bucky didn't bother to pause the movie, which had been changed to Return to Oz after they finished the first one.

Sadly, Bucky no longer had a glass of water in his hand, and it instead was on the floor. Taking a different route back to where the movie was playing, he had come across a room, and someone was in that room. To be more precise, they were on the floor.

Whoever the hell was there, Bucky was not here for it. For one thing, they were curled up inside a pink(?) blanket, another was the fact that they were completely blue. He could see their breathing, shallow and steady as if they were sleeping. A mane of wavy black hair fell over most of their ear.

Bucky cleared his throat and walked over to the fallen… person. "Hello?" they didn't move. "Hi?" he tried again, reaching out a hand to perhaps nudge them awake, but they opened their eyes and jerked back, taking in deep breaths through their nose, their entire stance screaming 'don't touch me.'

As Bucky looked closer, he realized it was… Loki? His eyes were wide open in an emotion like panic, a startling carmine red, his breathing becoming quicker when he noticed how close Bucky was. Something cold and guilty washed down Bucky's back as Loki started mouthing "No, No, No, No," the bandages rustling on his neck with each word. Loki's hands came up first to rub his arms, but then to slowly drift towards his mouth to cover it, as if to stop the words from coming out.

"Loki, Loki, can you hear me?" Bucky called quietly, begging that someone would snap him out of whatever world he was in. "What do you need?"

Loki shook his head, his hands desperately clamped over his mouth. Objects in the room shook and frosted over, hovering slightly above their place. Bucky clenched his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering, more of a reflex to stop and 'weakness' perceived by a superior than a reaction to whatever Loki was doing.

The newfound temperature of the room both caused Loki's breath to come out in misty clouds and slowed it down enough to be considered normal. Something about the cold bothered Bucky, however, and he tamped down on something akin to fear and replacing it with a dull, persistent discomfort.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Bucky asked, a respectable distance away, but keeping his hands to his sides. Loki's eyes darted up to look at his face, shaking his head slowly and clenching the blanket firmly in his hands. "Can I ask you about what happened, or are you not comfortable with the subject."

Loki's eyes widened slightly, his face a slightly paler blue. What was most out of place

(and the most concerning) was the look of shock etched into his features as if it was utterly strange that anyone would ask what happened and not demand it. Slowly, he shook his head, but narrowed his eyes to concentrate… something into the air. Sparks hovered beside his head, liquid and green but bright in a way that Wanda's magic wasn't, like a floodlight to a fire. Loki exhaled forcefully through his nose with whatever effort magic took and words began to take shape.

'_I dreamt of a memory.' _It read.

If Bucky had been anything but himself, the former winter soldier, he would've let his mouth fall open in shock or understanding. Instead, he swallowed and nodded. He didn't know anything of what Loki had been through, or much about Loki anyway, but he could understand the pain of remembering things one should forget.

Sensing it would be bad to push it, Bucky smiled wanly and began to speak of meaningless things, the movie he and Steve were watching, the way it was getting colder now that the season had reached its peak. His cup had frozen to the floor in whatever magic Loki had cast, or spelled or whatever, and now it was starting to thaw. Loki had become too tired to spell anything out for him in the air a while ago (how long had they been talking?)

Sighing slightly, bucky glanced at a clock before looking to Loki, who seemed just as exhausted as when he had first arrived. "Do you feel safe enough to be alone?"

At a nod, Bucky stood up and carried Loki to the couch. It would be better than laying on the floor and besides, Loki seemed liable to drop off to sleep at any moment. When he finally did, Bucky smiled softly. Loki looked disturbingly young, and almost vunerable if not for the way his brows furrowed and his hands were crossed over his chest. However, Loki did give off an aura similar to a small cat. Picking up the fuzzy pink blanket from earlier and a pillow off of the couch, he tucked Loki in with the years of practice he had with various other Avengers (Steve, Wanda, Natasha on occasion. Something told him he may have to steal Tony and chain him to the bed if he ever wanted to get the genius to sleep.)

Bucky picked up the glass he had dropped earlier and went back to a kitchen to fill it up again, making his way back to the room where he and Steve had been watching their movie on the common floor. He lifted up the blanket and scooched in besides Steve again.

"What took you so long?" Steve asked. "You missed the ending."

"Oh, nothing." Bucky smiled a little. "Just talking to a friend."

The next morning found some well rested, and others with dark circles under their eyes, but both had experienced the peculiar feeling that came with listening to someone talk so much you felt you knew them even if you had never met.

Loki found himself waking up quickly as he always did, snapping into awareness but keeping his eyes closed. He listened and inhaled slowly, sensing no changes in the air, but noticing that someone had put a pillow under his head in the night. He opened his eyes the barest sliver and finding nobody watching but the spirit in the ceiling, sat up.

It was no surprise when he found his wounds feeling infinitely better than the night before, his seidr replenishing itself and working to cycle through his body. He was once again grateful that Thanos had sent him to conquer Midgard before the Chituari could've damaged it even more than they had. It still hadn't fully recovered, even after nearly a decade, but he had always been a quick healer and walking among Yggdrasil had replenished his soul in ways indescribable.

Perhaps walking along her branches would calm his restlessness and the empty feeling in his bones. He reached out a hand, green rushing to the tips of his fingers as he laid his palm flat on the barrier of the world and Yggdrasil. Bringing his fingers together and _pulling _a rift through himself and the fabric of the universe, like pulling on a string to open up a seam. He prepared to fall through when-

"Hey. What are you doing?"

Shit. that was Barton. He tilted his head slightly to the left and words appeared near it. 'I was merely going for a walk.'

Barton rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah, sure, like I'll believe a word of it. No matter your sob story or what that monster did to you, you still killed people. And you took our minds. You of all people should know how that feels, and you should apologize instead of waltzing about like we're all going to just forgive you like that." He snapped his fingers.

'I don't expect you to. And for what it's worth, I am sorry.' Loki's face flickered with emotion, unidentifiable but with a hint of regret. What wasn't on his face was in his bones, the revulsion at his weakness, his inability to resist one being, no matter how strong he may have been.

"Hey. Stop it. Whatever you're thinking, stop. You saw into my mind and I saw into yours, so I know when you're doing… something. Just stop and listen, because you should know that forgiveness isn't something you can earn by sucking up to someone or getting them to pity you. Forgiveness is something we give to you. Something we'd like to give to you." Loki looked up sharply at Barton. "Not right now, but later. After you've put in some effort, maybe. And it might not matter to you the opinions of some mortals, but here on earth, it generally does. So don't wallow."

His eyes softened, and he said much more quietly: "It's not your job to place the blame."

Loki swallowed, feeling the muscles grate against one another in his throat, a slight sting of pain that kept him tethered but he knew was a bad habit. 'Thank you.'

Clint raised an eyebrow that could've been mistaken for 'really?' but was dismissed with a small twitch of his lips that told of a supressed smile. "You're welcome." He glanced briefly at the green wisps floating beside Loki's head and continued. "I can teach you sign language if you want. So you don't have to use your magic google docs."

Loki raised his eyebrows slightly, unaware such a thing existed. 'I think I'd enjoy that.'


	9. Pizza Pizza

A morning away, and still nothing wrong was happening. Unusual for the Avengers, but a change they were grateful for. Steve found himself feeling frustrated anyway. The first time it was funny and unexpected. Spiderman, Queens' favorite vigilante himself, dropping into the middle of Steve and Bucky's movie night. Funnier still how he was quietly-not-so-quiet whispering into some sort of communications. But now? 6 separate incidents later?

It was concerning.

And rather confusing.

Where did he keep disappearing to?

And so here he was, staring at a door that led to the kitchen St- Tony was in. He tried to raise his hand, but it did nothing. Instead, he found his eyes drifting to the door handle each time he tried to look away. Why was he hesitating? Everything was alright now, right?

No, no it wasn't. They still needed to work on that part. He was 100% not looking forward to this conversation. Not because of anything anyone did, but the fact that it would be awkward as hell. Still, it wasn't like they were ignoring each other, or trying to kill each other, or- maybe he should stop.

Now onto a more pressing issue. The door handle. His hand. Would not move.

Luckily he didn't have to do anything, because just then, the door was opened and one Tony Stark was on the other side, an egg sandwich in his hand.

"Uh. Hi. Did you need the kitchen?" Tony began, stepping hurriedly out of the way.

"Oh, no no no. Um. I actually wanted to talk to you." Steve wanted to rub the back of his head, but he stilled his hand by his side. This wasn't how it was suppo- how he wanted it to go. "So. Um. "

Tony spared him any further explanation by inviting him in to sit by the counter, even going so far as to offer him a sandwich. He didn't need to do that. After a few moments of silence, Tony spoke: "So, what's happening?"

"Well, don't laugh, but Spider-Man keeps showing up to the room I'm in during random moments, and it's getting very frustrating." he paused. "And embarrassing." He felt his face heat up momentarily when he recalled the moment where he was getting out of the shower and hadn't yet found a towel…

Yeah, he could've gone without that moment. He hoped he hadn't scarred Spider-Man for life with that one.

Tony looked deep into his coffee as if it held all answers to the universe, known and unknown, then turned the same look onto Steve. He subconsciously tightened his fingers around each other, tempted to avert his gaze to the side. "I'm sorry for bothering you with this, I just assumed you knew him from, well…" He coughed a little. "Anyway, I've been rude. We promised we'd start over but we haven't spoken much at all and the first thing I do is to dump another problem on you when you've already got so much on your plate. "

"No, everything's fine. I can talk to him. And there's not too much on my plate that I can't help out a friend."

Steve smiled slightly, still dying a little inside, but getting better. It wouldn't completely go away, however, because several wrong things stood out within Tony's sentence. Anyone with a pair of eyes, ears, or half a brain could see that he was fidgety, and his eyebags were deep purple without whatever concealer Tony magicked on his face. "Really? I mean, I'm not trying to doubt you would help me, though I would completely deserve it, but you should know that I can help with whatever problems you have the same way you would help with mine."

"There aren't any problems, I'm just a little tired. That's all. Work is stressful, and so I am stressed. Ergo, me being all-" he gestured to his whole body "-bleh."

"Oh. Well. If you could catch Spider-Man during any point where he's free, could you please let me talk to him?"

"Yeah. I can call him whenever."

"It's really no rush." Steve hesitated. "More of a minor inconvenience than anything. I would hate to both-"

"Its fine, Steve. I'm fine." Tony said harshly before putting a hand to his face and massaging his temples. "I'm sorry. Just. Work isn't the only thing stressing me out right now. Spider-Man is a part of it. He's always getting into trouble. And that's not his fault, but I care too much for me to let him go and do whatever, and he ends up getting stabbed. Or poisoned. Or him staying out too long and having to wake him up from hibernation even though he's a goddamn kid."

"Tony." Steve reached out a hand tentatively, hovering over his forearm, and putting it down when Tony didn't shy away. "It's alright. You don't have to do this all on your own. And I'm sorry you've had to for so long. But we're here for you now, and we're not leaving."

"Language," he added softly to the end, smiling fondly at Tony. "That was always the joke."

Natasha spent her time reading, trying to get SHIELD to put her on missions, and reconciling with a team she had once considered her family. It still was. Kinda. The civil war had been… harrowing. She had felt like her heart had gone concave, and all for what? Because they felt they had been better than the law? She hadn't wanted to be controlled again, but fear controlled their lives back then more than anything.

Never again.

When they had been put back into the tower, the first thing she had noticed was Tony Stark himself. More specifically, he looked like he could use a mug of coffee with a stiff drink and perhaps a Tylenol. Later she learned it was because he had found someone else to care for. Really, she shouldn't have expected anything else, they had been gone for so long, but she felt ever more empty at those eyes. The ones that meant he cared. They used to be there whenever Clint smiled at a prank well done, or when Steve came back from a run, exhausted but triumphant at his progress from being a scrawny kid. They used to look at her, at the whole team, but now they were chilled. Not cold, but hurt and betrayed.

So she set about trying to find out how to get that back. She made coffee in the way she remembered both of them liked but nobody else had figured out how to. She made friends with FRIDAY and her presence an amicable one. She smiled slightly at the team's antics.

Why did she feel so selfish?

Because at the root of it, it was. Trying to win the attention of a man she had never earned it from. Trying to earn a family. Tony had been the heart of the team and now they were a corpse, stumbling along without it, so she did all of that and more, and here was what it came to.

Movie Night. Yes, capitalized. Saturdays were dedicated to MST3Ks, Lord of the Rings, and anything else in between. They had once happened every single week, even if someone had to rush from a meeting (Tony), or frantically bake muffins to go along with popcorn (Steve).

And now?

Now was the test to see how long they could stand each other's presence before it devolved into a savage pit of accusations and bared teeth. Needless to say, Natasha Romanoff was not looking forward to it.

So when Clint arrived to tell her to come to the living room, she steeled herself and stood up straight. Arriving at the doorframe, Clint stopped and turned to her. "You know, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. We don't have any obligation to be here." He glanced at the door. "We can just hang out on one of our floors."

"No." She turned to face the door, arms crossed. "Let's do it. If it gets awkward we can always make an excuse."

A smile flickered at his lips. "Yeah. Also, there's pizza, that Tony made. It's his mom's recipe. I can't believe we haven't had it until now."

"Hell yeah," she replied firmly. "Pizza."

Clint snorted as they walked in, both at Natasha's deadpan tone, and the utter domesticity of the kitchen/living room/disaster area. Steve was in an armchair with Bucky (how?), Tony was leaning on the counter, talking with Vision, Loki sat by himself asleep in an armchair. Everyone else was either milling about or at the table, deep in conversation. Natasha spotted T'challa and and a handful of others with ties to the Avengers.

Tony looked up at their arrival, smiling that snarky smile, and exclaiming "Hey, look who's here! How are you feeling Charlotte, Cannibal?"

Clint blinked, and Natasha felt much the same. Those were new nicknames. "Good. Tired. Needing some pizza."

"You're in luck, we got all your fixin's. Cheese, the Sauces, the veggies, whatever seasoning you could want. I even got pepperoni even though it's blasphemous."

"How could pepperoni be blasphemous?" Clint threw his arms up. " It's like the signature ingredient for pizza."

Tony wrinkled his nose. "It's not traditional. Just basil and mozzarella for me. That's how _mia_ _madre_ always made it."

"Ah, well ill just stick with good ol' 'murican ways. Meaning pepperoni."

"Blasphemy," Tony muttered but continued to flatten out discs of dough with Vision looking on. Vision had formed a weird sort of pseudo-father-son bond with Tony, Natasha noticed. Despite their new kinship, she could see the edges of Tony's face wrinkle with sadness every time they spoke. JARVIS, she remembered, had a closer relationship with Tony than she had thought.

She moved forward to pick out her favorite toppings (peppers and mushrooms), arranging them in a pleasing way before handing it off to Tony, who put it in the oven. After that, there was nothing to do but find a place to sit or talk to someone. Heaven forbid. She chose a spot far away from Steve and Bucky's goo-goo eyes, sitting down on a blue beanbag chair that had no right being as comfortable as it was. It was the perfect spot for both movie and people watching, and right next to Loki's armchair. The fuzzy pink blanket that everyone knew now to be his (he had made it?) hung down the side and close to her head. He was looking better than before, which was almost impossible to _not_ do, and was sound asleep.

Everything was rather calm.

Was.

Because next thing she knew, Spider-Man was standing on the ceiling and the Princess of Wakanda was filming the room.

"What's up gamers? I got something epic to show you." The teenager pointed finger guns at everyone in quick succession. "Turns out, I was here all along."

"Oh my god, kid," Tony muttered quietly. looked dead inside.

"So, since y'all are back, I, the amazing and magnificent spiderman, have decided to reveal to you who I am." Now, this was interesting. "It's ya boy."

He pulled off his mask.

"Peter Parker."

The room erupted in chaos. The room suddenly became very loud and yet one voice was heard above them all.

"There's a teenager stopping crime!?" Steve said loudly, tersely. "You let a teenager stop muggers at one in the morning!?"

"Technically I was doing that before anyone picked me up and gave me proper safety, ayy." again with the finger guns, though this time specifically at Steve.

Then the room went silent. People's mouths moved but no sound came out. Loki shifted slightly upwards groggily and gave them a scathing glare. His message was clear, so when he laid back down everything was much quieter.

"Sorry," Steve said automatically. "It's just… you're so young. I don't know what life you've had to turn to vigilantism, but there are other choices you can make."

"Oh, um." Spider-Man was blushing now, clearly not expecting that response. "Not to say that you're wrong, because obviously I wouldn't want to be rude, but I've ben doing this for a while? So stopping now would be… hm. Weird."

"What he means to say is that he's glad you're concerned, but to stop him would be like taking away half of who he is, and we'll leave it at that." Tony continued for him. Narrowing his eyes, he turned to Shuri. "Why are we revealing Spider-Man to be a teenage boy?"

"Because it's funny," they answered at the same time.

"Of course it is."

"Anyway, there aren't exactly any protocols for revealing your superhero identity so I made my own. And now I'm here, and now y'all know."

"Well. Hi then," Bucky replied stiffly, before blinking. "Also what the fuck is it with you and cereal?"

"It's good! I'm always hungry also. I'm the hungriest person in this room right now."

The room was silent for a moment, the attention focused on Peter slowly easing off into individual conversation again, leaving Peter on the ceiling with his hands on his hips, raising one hand, giving a thumbs up, and staring at Shuri's phone. When she ended the video he dropped from the ceiling and they celebrated their victory quietly.

"Is that a challenge I smell? You, the hungriest?" Clint asked. "Because I guarantee you, you're not."

"Oh? You're approaching me?" Not missing a beat, Peter sat down next to him, staring deep into his eyes, hands clasped together. Shuri started another video. "It's on."

Tony smiled softly before turning back to the oven and pulling out a pizza. Vision nodded at something Tony said and brought it over to her, and she accepted it with a nod.

Looking down at her plate, she felt something she hadn't known for a while. It was just pizza. But it had been made by someone for her. Why did that seem to matter so much? Perhaps it didn't, but as she saw Bucky throw his head back laughing at a joke Tony had yelled across the room with Peter, she thought she had found a name for the taste in her mouth.

Home. It tasted like home.


End file.
